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Lor-Zod (New Earth)
When Superman contacted his "cousin" Mon-El (Lar-Gand), who remained in the Zone due to his own radiation poisoning to find out about Christopher's fate, Mon-El informed Kal-El that Christopher was either not in the Zone or was transferred to some very remote locale within the Zone that no one knew of. In truth, it was the Kandorian Thara Ak-Var who had rescued Chris from the Phantom Zone shortly before the Zone began to collapse upon itself. Although only a short time had passed, Chris' unique physiology aged him to approximately fifteen or sixteen years old. Thara knew that the emergence of thousands of Kandorians in the physical world posed a great threat to the planet Earth, and she enlisted Chris' aid to become a costumed, Kryptonian crime-fighter on Earth. Thara and Chris adopted the code names of two legendary Kryptonian heroes, Flamebird and Nightwing. As Nightwing, Chris began actively patrolling several American cities. Nightwing After returning to the Phantom Zone, Chris entered the Kryptonian prison where his parents had made shelter. Finding a piece of Brainiac's technology, Chris's mind interfaced with the device, expanding his consciousness, and somehow forging a connection with the mind of Thara Ak-Var, security chief of Kandor, which had recently been freed from Brainiac's ship by Superman. Thara used the connection between their minds to stage a successful rescue attempt with the added help of Non.Action Comics Annual #12 When the citizens of Kandor created New Krypton, which was placed in orbit around the Sun at the opposite side of Earth, Chris and Thara tasked themselves with the mission of bringing in the Phantom Zone Kryptonian criminals hiding on Earth as sleeper agents. Since the belligerent government of Alura Zor-El and Zod had tarnished all Kryptonians' reputations on Earth, Chris and Thara decided to act as a new Nightwing and Flamebird duo, at first with simple cloth masks, then with fake power suits, to throw people off about the origins of their powers. However, Chris, due to his birth in the Phantom Zone, exhibited strange and uncontrollable growth spurts: despite his young age when Thara saved him, as Nightwing he was shown being roughly 15 or 16, and after another debilitating growth spurt, he aged to 23 years old.Greg Rucka: Man of "Action" His mother, Ursa, stalked him for vengeance. Chris had been shown refusing his heritage, and insisting that Thara address by with his "human" name, despising her attempts to transliterate it as a Kryptonian name, and never going by his birth name of Lor-Zod. Action Comics #875 (2009) After a brutal attack by Ursa, Thara was left gravely wounded by a frangible Kryptonite knife, and Chris was forced to bring her to Lois Lane for medical assistance.Action Comics #876 (2009) Once he brought Thara to Lois, the two had a tearful reunion; although Lois was happy to see him again she was concerned about his advanced aging. Lois called Doctor Light for medical assistance while Chris went back to the fortress and was again confronted by his biological mother. Their conflict was cut short as UAVs sent by General Lane arrived at the scene, forcing both to flee.Action Comics #877 (2009) While Chris returned home to Lois, he found that Thara had recovered and was being quizzed by Lois about their relationship. Before Lois was able to learn anything, the two flew away to confront a Kryptonian couple on a crime spree. The four battled, with Chris and Thara quickly gaining the upper hand; however, their fight was interrupted by Codename: Assassin and what seemed to be a gang of "ogres". Action Comics #878(2009) The sleeper couple used the distraction to escape. Nightwing pursued them, but was forced to let them go in order to save some innocents from a falling bridge.Action Comics #879 After the two had received a hero's thank you from a crowd in Hollywood, Thara noticed that one of the girls gave her phone number to Chris. Chris asked if she is jealous, while Thara/Flamebird lied that she does not care if he goes around with hundreds of girls. Reacting on an impulse, the two shared a kiss. Before either of the two actually managed to respond they were attacked by Metallo and Reactron and captured.Action Comics #880 (2009) However, Chris and Thara were teleported away, along with Supergirl. Supergirl attacked Thara for killing her father and trying to kill her. However, Chris stopped her and told her that he was his cousin. The three were attacked by Guardian and the Science Police, for apparently killing Mon-El. Chris tried to tell Guardian that they did not murder Mon-El, but Guardian ignored him. The three managed to escape to Paris. Chris, Thara and Kara talked about what had happened. They then discovered that the two sleepers they were fighting were Metallo and Reactron. However, they are attacked by Squad K.Action Comics #881 (2009) Framed for the murder of Mon-El, the two managed to escape from Squad K, and went to Lana Lang's apartment. They decided to get Lois's help in clearing their names. Chris and Lana went to find Lois while Kara and Thara stayed in Lana's apartment.Supergirl volume 5 #45 (2009) Chris and Thara were discovered, and once more forced to flee. During the attempt to flee, they once more encountered Squad K: however, the three opted to surender in order to clear their names. While they managed to persuade the Squad K commander, Reactron quickly murdered his team-mates and attempted to kill the three. During their conflict, Thara was injured while atemptig to protect Supergirl. As Reactron was about to kill Chris and Kara, Thara manifested her Flamebird powers and personality, easily overpowering and defeating Reactron. The Flamebird decided to kill Reactron but was swayed to show mercy after Reactron revealed that Mon-El is alive and Flamebird was further calmed by Supergirl. The Flamebird was fully submerged after sharing a kiss with Chris.Action Comics #882 Donning new costumes, Chris and Thara continued to save lives, despite their actions being twisted by the anti-Kryptonian media. Not long after, Chris experienced another aging spurt, becoming an old man. Doctor Light brought Chris to her colleague, Doctor Pillings, who, unbeknownst to any of them, was the Kryptonian sleeper agent Jax-Ur.Action Comics #883 Jax-Ur's theft of Chris's DNA and its purpose was soon revealed as he unleashed a replica of the Kryptonian deity Rao to trample and rampage across Earth. Thara attempted to subdue Jax-Ur and the false deity but even in her Flamebird form was overpowered. Meanwhile, Chris was helpless, stuck in the Phantom Zone once more, banished there by Jax-Ur. While he was there he could only observe as Thara, Lois and other heroes battled against Rao but failed to inflict any actual damage, only Wonder Woman managing to hold her own. Saddened and frustrated, he was contacted by the Nightwing Kryptonian entity, opposite and lover of Flamebird. Nightwing revealed that while Thara is truly the host of Flamebird, so is he Nightwing's. For some reason, however, the two were unable to connect. Seeing that Thara and the others wouldn't hold out much longer, Chris and Nightwing merged properly and were able to free themselves. Chris became a fully fledged avatar of the Nightwing entity, and was able to fight Jax-Ur (revealed to be the Kryptonian deity the Builder as well) along with Flamebird on even terms. Furious that Nightwing escaped, Jax-Ur fled into the heart of his construct, Rao, and triggered a self destruct located in Rao's heart which would engulf the Earth into a black hole and rip the universe apart. Nightwing and Flamebird together were able to overpower him, and Nightwing absorbed Rao's heart into the Phantom Zone, where it was rendered harmless, and destroyed the Rao construct. Once the Rao crises was dealt with, both Thara and Chris regroup with the other heroes, kiss, and flee in order to avoid any more hostilities with the locals.Action Comics #885-889 During the War of the Supermen, the solar system's sun was turned red by the combined efforts of General Lane and Lex Luthor. Thara sacrificed herself to restore it to its yellow coloration, becoming a charred skeleton. Chris attempted to join her, but the Nightwing entity spirited him away.Superman: War of the Supermen #3 In the final confrontation between Superman and Zod, Chris pushed Zod back into the Phantom Zone. Once back in the Zone, Chris became a young boy once more, and encountered Mon-El again.Superman: War of the Supermen #4 | Powers = Kryptonian Physiology: Lor-Zod's cellular structure is more dense, resilient and biologically more effective than human tissue. Strangely enough, he does not seem to possess superhuman strength levels despite his enhanced cellular ability without constant exposure to yellow solar energy. Without such charging, his strength seems on par for a human of his height and weight who engages in regular physical activity. As an alien he possess several organs whose functions are not yet disclosed or understood but are believed to be part of and perhaps even the source of his biomatrix force field and reclamation aura. Lor-Zod's body also stores energy actively within his bio-cellular matrix as an energy pattern that is linked to his body's electromagnetic field. This energy powers most of his electromagnetic capabilities such as flight and heat vision. It also supplements his physical strength by a factor of about 12,000 times. :Solar Energy Absorption: Technically, this is the main source of Lor-Zod's powers. Because his powers are greatly due to exposure to Earth's yellow sun, his powers have been affected by extreme absorptions of solar power, whether voluntary or involuntary. ::Superhuman Strength: While the exact magnitude of Lor-Zod's strength is unknown, it is generally accepted that Lor-Zod is strong enough to lift several tons. Though it is clear that compared to fully adult New Earth dimensional Kryptonians Lor-Zod's strtenght level is very weak as his biological father Zod was able to crush his skull in the same manner that a full grown human male would be able to do to an approximate same age human child. Lor-Zod's strength is more an act of conscious will on energy fields than actual physical strength. It is through this act of conscious will manipulation that allows Lor-Zod to engage in physical feats that are beyond merely applying applicable force such as moving an object without said object crumbling under its own mass while he moves it. ::Invulnerability: Lor-Zod's body is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. In addition, his immune system protects him from toxins and diseases. His invulnerability is not protective to the heat vision that fully adult Kryptonians can generate which has been shown to penetrate his own skin and bone with instantaneous results. ::Heat Vision: The ability to fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it with the conscious act of activating this power. Visually, the power is typically depicted as two beams of red light firing from his eyes. These beams can be made invisible, allowing Lor-Zod to work undetected. The maximum temperature of his heat vision is said to be around that of a nuclear detonation though that is not proven or stated. It IS however shown to be intense enough to burn fully adult Kryptonians as he did against his biological father to try to protect Kal-El. Phantom Zone Immunity: Because Lor-Zod was conceived and born in the Phantom Zone, he is actually immune to the Zone's effects and is the only denizen who can maintain a corporeal form. Teleportation: he is able to merge with shadows and cross distances. The exact distance he can teleport remains unknown, but he was able to teleport or absorb an faulty artificial sun into the Phantom Zone Shadow Construct Creation: Chris displays this ability in the most rudimentary form, creating dark creatures, shadow shields etc. His exact limitations are also unknown. Omniscience: The Nightwing has stated that he sees and knows everything that occurs in shadows or darkness. So far he was able to detect his sibling deity who was hiding in his own shadow and sense that Jay Garrick was in danger of being killed. | Abilities = Tactile telekinesis: Nightwing is able to dismantle objects similar to Superboy. Although he also displays the skill to use his tactile telekinesis in a more traditional sense, such as moving objects without actually touching them. Lor-Zod has the same abilities as most DC Primary Kryptonians living in an environment under a yellow sun. The full range of his powers has yet to be determined. Thus far, he has demonstrated superhuman strength, superhuman levels of endurance (so called "invulnerability") and heat-vision. * Lor-Zod's learning capabilities are well in advance from that of a normal child. Within days of landing on Earth, he began to comprehend and speak English with relative ease. | Strength = Under a yellow sun, Lor-Zod possesses obvious superhuman strength, though not equivalent to that of fully grown powered male Kryptonians such as either his biological father Zod or his foster father Superman. Lor's superhuman strength is still far in excess of human levels as his strength level is able to fight off fully grown men. As a still developing child, it is suggested that Lor's full power level will be far greater as adult than the levels he currently has now at approximately five to seven years of age. | Weaknesses = Solar Energy: Like all New Earth Kryptonians, Lor-Zod's powers will diminish if he does not absorb "yellow" solar energy. Kryptonite: Lor-Zod does not feel the effects of kryptonite exposure as severely as other kryptonians but it can still weaken him. Magic: Lor is also vurnerable to mystical forces. | Equipment = *'Solar Watch': Chris wore a red sun wavelength generation watch to curb his superhuman powers allow him to interact with normal humans on a more equal level. He retains a portion of these powers, despite usually wearing the watch. | Transportation = | Weapons = | Notes = * When his powers get too out of control, a small machine attached to his wrist inserts a certain amount of lead to suppress them. *As he was born in the Phantom Zone and the only one who can maintain a physical form and presumably a ghostly form (Wraith). | Trivia = * Lor-Zod's adoptive name, Christopher, is likely an homage to the late actor, Christopher Reeve. Reeve played the role of Superman in four feature films and passed away in 2004 due to complications from paralysis. | Recommended = * Action Comics #844 * Action Comics #845 * Action Comics #846 * Action Comics #851 * Action Comics Annual #11 | Links = * Lor-Zod article at Wikipedia }} Category:2007 Character Debuts Category:Aliens Category:Phantom Zoners Category:Vulnerability to Kryptonite Category:Vulnerability to Magic